Field
Various communication systems may benefit from communication between two different radio access technologies. For example, a long term evolution network may benefit from receiving resource availability information from a wireless local area network.
Description of the Related Art
Due to the diverse nature of modern communication systems, it is increasingly important for different radio access technologies to be able to effectively interact with each another. A single user equipment, for example, may interact with multiple radio access networks simultaneously. The different radio access technologies may be used in conjunction to help accommodate for the data demands of the user equipment.
In long term evolution (LTE), for example, data used by a user equipment may be split between the LTE network and a wireless local area network (WLAN). In this example, the bearer between the LTE network and WLAN is split to accommodate for the data used by the user equipment. To facilitate this splitting of data between LTE network and WLAN, a standardized interface Xw between the LTE and WLAN may be established. A network node, using third generation partnership project (3GPP) technology, may be created to help facilitate this Xw interface. For example, the network node may be a WLAN Termination (WT) located in the WLAN, and can be used to terminate the Xw interface at the WLAN side. Xw can then be used to control the communications between LTE network and WLAN, such as user plane forwarding, flow control feedback signaling, and control plane signaling.
One application of different radio access technologies interacting with one another is in the form of resource aggregation. By combining the resources of two different radio access technologies, a communications system will be able to more effectively serve the data demands of user equipment. One example can be aggregation between an LTE network and a WLAN (LWA). In this example, a user equipment may be connected to both LTE and WLAN and use both technologies simultaneously in the same bearer to send and receive data. This aggregation can be used to lessen the burden of individual radio access technologies in accommodating for the data demands of a user equipment.
Before activating aggregation procedures between different radio access technologies, a network node should initiate a user plane tunnel over an interface between the different radio access technologies. For example, establishing of LWA can begin with an LTE network node initiating the establishment of the user plane tunnel for a specific radio bearer over Xw with the WT. There are, however, various signaling and resource costs associated with establishment of a user plane tunnel.